For decades CCTV has been deployed with great success in the fight against crime.

But if security cameras have long been a reliable means of catching people in the act of breaking and entering, the advent of IP surveillance means that criminals can now turn the tables on those who operate the cameras. They can ‘break and enter’ onto networks via the camera itself.

In the video below, Sophos researcher James Lyne shows you how to hack a security camera. It’s alarmingly easy and should concentrate minds in the security industry – and that that applies to manufacturers, installers and CCTV operators alike.

No wonder the cyber threat to CCTV systems has been in the news a lot recently. Last week around 1.5m IoT devices – mostly security cameras – were hijacked during a DDoS attack. And the BSIA CCTV section recently urged operators of IP-connected surveillance systems to do more to safeguard their systems against cyber attack, including changing the manufacturer’s default credentials.

A Times investigation, meanwhile, reported concerns from MI6 about the threat to national security from IP-connected CCTV systems. In response to that story, Hanwha Techwin sought to reassure its customers that it was doing enough to repel attacks and called for collaboration across the supply chain.